Bournemouth goes green this Veganuary

The campaign in January 2021 saw over 580,000 people sign up to the programme with people participating from 209 different countries.

The aim isn’t just for people to go Vegan but to drive corporate change and champion compassionate food choices. They aim to end animal farming,  protect the natural world  and improve human health ethically.

Dorota Jedrzejewska, a waitress at Mad Cucumber vegan lounge in Bournemouth, says the business has seen an influx of new customers this January.

“There is definitely a lot of meat-eaters now who are curious to try something new,” she says. “So we can definitely see improvement in January.

“Unfortunately it seems to drop in February!”

Vegan restaurants and cafe’s are now becoming a more familiar site in Bournemouth with eateries cropping up more and more around the area.

“It is definitely growing, especially in this area, it is becoming more popular.” Dorota explains.

Aaron Bryans owns Plant Hustlers in Boscombe, a restaurant which exclusively sells organic and plant-based food.

Bryans and his restaurant have felt the benefits of Veganuary first hand.

“The good thing about Veganuary is that there is a lot of plant based companies out there who want to get their products out.

“They do a lot of promotions, for instance I have one with Omnipork, who do plant-based pork products which are really good.”

Veganuary first started back in 2014 and since then millions of people have taken part. Although participation has only drastically shifted in the last three years.

However Aaron Bryans explains that there is still a lot to come from the initiative.

“My place will be three years old soon, and I jumped on at the right time because it still hasn’t hit its true potential.

“You can see that from what the supermarkets offer and how the big businesses are opening up their menu,” he says. “But we are still very behind in the UK.”